Starting to think about the year’s loon nesting season, and just want everyone to know we still need volunteers to put out buoys, nesting rafts, and monitor lakes with nesting loons in Northern Michigan. Please reply here or contact me via email listed on this site if you’re interested. Also need to know who needs more buoys, rafts, etc…to help manage and protect your lake’s loons.

As you can see by the trees in the background, the Thumb Lake loon pair needs a nest not susceptible to flooding. Last year, the loons turned their noses up at our raft site, nesting only yards away and not succeeding. This season…who knows?

Also, last season, the male of the pair got tangled in fishing line, and it wasn’t till we captured him that we discovered the line went deep into his throat. Cutting it as short as possible was all we could do, and the loon survived into the fall and migrated, which was a relief.

Bob and Sue Korte led the effort to place buoys and raft on this Charlevoix County lake.

Let me start out by saying right off that I believe lead has no place in our lives, especially where it comes into contact, or potential contact, with people and other animals. This includes our water, runoff or directly, in fishing tackle or ammunition. The health hazards lead poses is thoroughly documented and unarguable. Paint can no longer contain lead, but many older homes still pose risks.You can’t use lead shot near lakes or marshes for duck hunting, but you can use it anywhere else. Hunting with lead shot holds two dangers: the first is that it ends up on the ground, where birds ingest it along with other “pebbles” to help grind their food. The second is that anyone eating an animal killed with lead shot risks poisoning themselves and anyone else sharing the meal. The problem with lead sinkers is that many of them break off fishing lines and settle to the bottom of the lake. These pose a hazard to waterfowl who also ingest them to break down food.

My case in point is the unfortunate loon featured here. Holly Gedert called me from her Douglas Lake home to pass on what neighbor Karen Spezia reported to be a wounded loon. By the time Holly reached the bird, it was onshore. She called me back saying it was very sluggish, trying to re-enter the water, but unable to remain upright. Within a few minutes the loon lay dead. She suggested calling Dale Covy, husband of Anne Covy of the Douglas Lake Loon Committee, whom I’d met on a recent tour of the lake. Dale, a veterinarian back home, arrived on site and opened up the dead loon. The contents of the gullet quickly revealed the culprit. A couple undigested fish, about twenty small pebbles and a slightly worn lead sinker, showing scratch marks where it had rubbed against the stones.Loons, as most birds do, transfer food from their mouths to their crop, where it might be stored while on a feeding binge, until they send it along to the gullet. Many birds, while nesting, will keep it in the crop to be regurgitated later for their young. Once in the gullet, however, it remains with the stones birds keep there, where the gullet’s powerful muscles squeeze and mash the food, the stones working as grinding agent. The stones eventually break down and are passed through the digestive system, the bird replacing them as needed. The lead sinker killed this loon long before it wore down enough to pass through. The frightening part is how little of the lead was needed to kill this poor loon outright. Sad though this story is, I appreciate Holly Gedert and Dale Covy, and the rest of the DLLC for bringing this hazard to light. How many birds (loons and others) are lost each year that never come to our attention? How many go on to die on their wintering grounds or enroute?

While I applaud efforts to educate anglers about lead use in tackle, as Michigan Loonwatch seeks to do, I believe banning lead tackle is the only effective solution to these incidents. Only a few states currently do. Michigan isn’t one of them.

A few weeks ago, I met Sandy Witvoet online (no, not that kind of online meeting), who was involved with the loon rescue on Bellows Lake near Traverse City. Sandy heard that I was coming down, contacted me, and though the rescue never took place (details below) Sandy and I became good friends. She made a generous donation to Looncorps, and I’ve managed to expand my network of energetic, brilliant, and kind loon advocates throughout Northern Michigan. Sandy has a firm grasp on what makes loons tick and why they behave as they do. It’s great to have her as a friend, and as a dedicated friend of loons. So, I asked her to write a story, with pictures, for Looncorps. She kindly did, and I gratefully offer it here. [Note: How the loon family escaped the eagle is just fascinating.]

Story and photos by Sandy Witvoet

As a Loon lover, ya just gotta know about Jeff. A few weeks ago, I received a call from a visiting friend from downstate who said that there was a Loon in trouble on a lake in SW Grand Traverse County. Who do you contact? Well, yeah, Jeff is the man! The Loon was entangled in fishing line with a hook embedded in his bill. YIKES! Well, Jeff was on his way for a two-hour trip to rescue this baby at midnight. Fortunately for the Loon (not so fortunately for Jeff!), the Loon shed the hook and line prior to Jeff’s arrival. Although I was not able to “hook up” with Jeff that night, I’ve had the pleasure of corresponding with him recently, and he asked if I could write an article for the website…

I enjoy photographing Loons, but have always been most interested in studying them….They are amazing birds. I open my windows in April to make sure I hear their arrival wails, then, watch courtship, nesting behavior and parenting and/or partnering, as well as the bachelor Loon parties that are common when the residents don’t have a chick. When there is a baby… well… all heck can break loose should an Eagle try to have baby for “lunch” … or even if a Cormorant shows up. Most memorable moment was two years ago when an Eagle was after the baby…Dad Loon came screaming out of the lake (I’ve NEVER seen a loon take off that quickly!), dagger-bill and dead set on that Eagle. We took our pontoon out… Mom and baby hid under it for about 20 minutes till Dad returned and gave the “all clear” signal-hoot. Loon family then went about their biz.

Rennie Lake

Rennie Lake

Our Lake is at high water level now and the natal Loon Island has been submerged for two years… so, no babies. We built an ANI several years ago on a different lake (although that lake was really not set up too well for Loons). We are looking forward to working with Jeff to build an ANI for our Lake here in Northern MI to help them out in 2016.

A message to all visitors and photographers to these lakes: All nesting sites are strictly monitored by Lake Residents and Assigned Rangers and any interference to nesting loons and/or chicks will be reported as a violation under the Endangered/Threatened Species Act. Please contact LoonCorps prior to visiting these sites.

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On Tuesday, March 6, the film, The Dance of the Sandhill Crane will be shown for the Friends of the Onaway Library. The 45-minute film starts about 1pm, and discussion will take place afterward. Admission is free, and this event takes place at the Onaway Courthouse, located in the town of Onaway on M-68.

The Round Lake loon pair finally had a successful nesting in 2017 and hatched 2 chicks in early July (a very late nest, to be sure). The video here was taken within a day of hatching. One chick was lost some time later, but the other survived the nesting season and fledged in the fall. Thanks to all the volunteers and residents for looking out for this loon family.

When I arrived at Round Lake this morning I saw (and filmed) 2 tiny loon chicks with their parents. Newly hatched, and cruising the south end with their very devoted parents. Thanks to everyone who contributed information on this nesting and placed nesting rafts and buoys. Finally, the 4-year curse has ended and we have a loon family once again. See the 1-minute video below…

The next several weeks will be a very opportune time to view the adults to see if any of them are the ones we banded in 2010 and 2012. Let me know if you see bands, what colors on which leg, and so on… All loons banded are banded on both legs. Loons banded as juveniles have the standard silver on the left leg, while loons banded as adults have silver on the right. All also have a color band on the opposite leg, and some another color band with the silver. If you see a loon with a white band on the left leg, it’s the female geotagged in 2010.

Our long-term goal (short-term, if possible) is to have nesting loons on all three viable lakes in this chain: Round, Crooked, and Pickerel. With the new territory established on Crooked in 2014, we have achieved 2 out of 3. Two rafts are placed on Crooked (one which is used by nesting loons) and two on Pickerel (neither which has so far been occupied). If anyone knows people on these lakes that want to get involved, please let me know. Thanks.

The film, Dance of the Sandhill Crane will show tonight, June 26 at the Carnegie Building at 451 E. Mitchell in Petoskey at 7PM. This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Petoskey Library, and is open to the public and free of charge. Follow a sandhill crane family through the season and get an inside peek into their everyday lives. The film lasts about 45 minutes, with time for questions and discussion after.

And one unhatched egg left behind. Given that this loon pair didn’t nest at all last season, this is great news to have one chick doing well. Thanks to Beth Stewart for maintaining the rafts in two coves.

The next presentation of the film The Dance of the Sandhill Crane will take place Saturday, March 25 at Woldumar Nature Center in Lansing. The film will be shown at noon, followed by questions and discussion (and perhaps a few short films), time permitting. Visit the Woldumar website for more information and directions. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, Sept 14, at 6pm, my 45-minute film, The Dance of the Sandhill Crane, will be shown at the Cheboygan Public Library for the Straits Area Audubon Society chapter. This new film follows one sandhill crane family through the nesting season, and informs viewers where the population stands today, after coming back from extremely low numbers in the 1940s. I will take questions about cranes, loons, or anything related after the film. DVDs of the film are available for purchase for $15.

Lee Anne and I attended the August meeting of the Pickerel-Crooked Lakes Association held at the Inland Water Route Historical Museum in Alanson Saturday morning. I shared a brief account of our breeding loon restoration plan for the Round, Crooked, and Pickerel lakes chain, specifically the installation of new nesting rafts in strategic locations around the lakes to replace nesting sites lost or developed in the past.

Sticking around for the rest of the meeting, I was especially impressed with how this group encouraged their member lake residents to develop greenbelt zones along their lakeshores, which reduce erosion, filter runoff into the lake, and discourage loitering geese. Learning stuff like this is one of the many benefits to joining PCLA, making the nominal membership fee more than worth the money.

My film, The Uncommon Loon, will be shown in its entirety at the U of M Biological Station Sunday, August 7, at 7:30 PM. This locally made film features one family of common loons on Round Lake near Petoskey, and includes much of the flora and fauna that inhabit or visit the marsh in the […]

I just want to take a moment to thank the PCLA Board for voting to give Looncorps a very generous donation in summer 2016. We are continuing to make efforts to establish a viable breeding loon population in the Round, Crooked, Pickerel Lakes chain, and hope eventually to have several breeding loon pairs on these lakes. I believe Crooked alone can support three pairs, Pickerel perhaps two pairs, and Round has an outside chance for two.

Currently, Crooked Lake has a solid breeding pair (though nesting wasn’t successful this season as it was in 2015). Two additional rafts have been out here in the last couple years, but have not been used so far. Pickerel had a male die on the nest in 2015, though I’m not sure if that was a nesting loon, or that he boarded the raft because of the stress of the aspergillosis he was afflicted with. Pickerel has two nesting rafts waiting for a breeding pair. Round Lake has suffered a 4-year hiatus in nesting ever since the nesting loons were ejected from their nest in 2013 by intruding loon(s). We’re still waiting for them to sort out who will own the territory. Making multiple nesting sites available on these lakes is important because the young that migrate from here will return some day seeking a territory, and we hope they will select one on or adjacent to the lake they hatched from.

So, thank you PCLA for your very generous donation, and be assured it will go to establish nesting and further the nesting success of loons on the two lakes. This very beneficial group operates from the funds generated by its members. Click here to join this organization.